New abortion law will likely shutter Beaumont clinic

By Brooke Crum, Kolten Parker and Jayme Fraser

Updated 6:53 pm, Friday, July 19, 2013

Photo: TOM REEL

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Lawmakers, including Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and State Sen. Ediie Lucio D-Brownsville (blue coat) applaud as Governor Rick Perry speaks before he signs into law the abortions restrictions bill on July 18, 2013. less

Lawmakers, including Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and State Sen. Ediie Lucio D-Brownsville (blue coat) applaud as Governor Rick Perry speaks before he signs into law the abortions restrictions bill on July 18, ... more

Photo: TOM REEL

New abortion law will likely shutter Beaumont clinic

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

Beaumont's sole abortion clinic will likely shutter its doors when House Bill 2, the controversial abortion bill signed into law by Gov. Perry Thursday morning, takes effect in September 2014.

The next closest clinic is in Houston.

The bill requires all abortion facilities to adhere to regulatory standards for ambulatory surgical centers, bans abortions after 20 weeks of gestation, imposes new regulations on the

Whole Woman's Health, which has a location on 18th Street in Beaumont, will probably close five of the six abortion centers it operates in Texas due to the ambulatory surgical center requirements, said Fatimah Gifford, Whole Woman's Health spokeswoman. Its San Antonio location is an ambulatory surgical center.

The Beaumont clinic has been open for seven years and averages around 1,200 patients a year, according to Gifford.

To be a qualified ambulatory surgical center, the Beaumont clinic would have to increase the size of its hallways and surgery rooms, construct male and female locker rooms as well as a pharmacy, and have a backup generator on hand, to name a few required upgrades, Gifford said.

The new standards do not directly correlate with safe abortion procedures, said Gifford, who called the bill "completely unnecessary."

Gov. Rick Perry said it was a "happy, celebratory day" after he inked the measure Thursday in the capitol auditorium.

About 20 protesters stood quietly outside, trading the orange color worn at previous demonstrations for black. Those in the front held sheets of printer paper with one letter each: "S-H-A-M-E."

"It is our responsibility to give voice to the unborn. … It is also our responsibility to protect the health of women," Perry said.

Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker, who sponsored the bill, thanked "the new blues" and the "pro-life organizations who brought in bus loads to counter the chaos going on."

"It truly was the hand of God," she said.

Like Whole Woman's Health, Planned Parenthood is planning to close a number of locations throughout the state.

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast announced facilities located in Bryan, Huntsville and Lufkin, will be closing at the end of August. Each of them provided health and family planning services including cancer screenings and pregnancy, HIV and STD testing. Only the facility in Bryan performed abortions.

Critics of the bill, including Planned Parenthood, have said the law will greatly restrict access to abortion in Texas, specifically for poor women living near the border or in West Texas. The critics warn the regulations in the bill could force all but five abortion clinics statewide to close.

When women from the Beaumont area travel to Houston for abortion procedures, they will have to visit the clinic four times as a result of the bill's changes to how the abortion drug RU-486 is administered. The bill mandates an initial consolation and follow up visit in addition to the two-day procedure, Gifford said.

"And that's a pill," she said.

The additional time commitment House Bill 2 necessitates increases the barriers, such as taking time off work and securing childcare services, women already face when choosing to have an abortion, Gifford said.